{% include "includes/auth/janrain/signIn_traditional.html" with message='It looks like you are already verified. If you still have trouble signing in, you probably need a new confirmation link email.' %}

Swine flu summer over? A week with no local cases

I actually have some good news about swine flu.
Our unusual summer burst of flu cases in Palm Beach County appears to have ended.

The latest detailed epidemiological report from the state shows that for the week ending Aug. 22, we did not have a single lab confirmed case of swine flu.

Stop the presses.
That hasn’t happened since late May.

It appears the pandemic flu strain peaked in Palm Beach County from June 14 to July 25.
Here’s a chart showing state numbers. Look at that red line. It’s the number of confirmed flu isolates reported in Florida. We’re on the right side of that mountain, finally.
But you know what the doctors say: I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is, it’s still raging in some other parts of the state, including Tampa-St. Pete.

And school started in mid-late August – so it is probably already back, just not reflected in the state epi report yet. Complicating matters, doctors aren’t sending off samples for testing like they used to.

We already know that Kings Academy had a cluster of influenza A cases that recently caused a number of events to be canceled. I’ve also heard that Bak Middle School of the Arts and Suncoast Community High have had some kids out with flu. Those numbers will probably show up in the next epi report, but only if their samples were confirmed by the state. Most aren’t.

We’re still at 5 deaths from swine flu in Palm Beach County, but the count in the state is still rising: It’s up to 70 swine-flu related deaths in Florida.

Given the news we’ve been reporting lately, I’ll take “no new cases” and enjoy it.